The Bone Weaver Alchemist
by Caluminous
Summary: Jaune is expelled from Beacon after his false transcripts are revealed. Through a convoluted series of events, he finds himself in Resembool in the year 1908. Afflicted by the failures of his past, Jaune now seeks to grow past them and joins the Elric Brothers in their journey to recover their bodies and in doing so, discovers his own talent in the field of alchemy.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY or FMA:B. I shook Miles Luna's hand once and got a pic with Barbara Dunkleman but that's the closest I've come to the former. **

**Author's Note:**

**All right, all right, all right, time for a new story.**

**I'm lacking inspiration for my Harry Potter/Destiny crossover right now, so here's something new. **

**Our beloved Jaune Arc has found himself in Amestris just before Ed and Al train with Izumi Curtis. This is gonna be good. **

**Enjoy**

* * *

The sharp screech of steel meeting steel rang out in the training arena of Central as a young man crossed swords with Führer-King Bradley.

"You're using the standard attacks." The King knocked the blades away and jumped away. "Use the unorthodox."

The young man ran forward and slid under Bradley's next attack and swung at the older man's knees only for him to jump out of range.

"How many times do I have to tell you? Control my central line." Bradley used his rapiers to bat aside the strikes that followed his statement until he was forced to the side by a downward strike followed by a strike from his left. "Good."

The young man, himself armed with a rapier and a bastard sword, rushed Bradley, his golden hair pulling back with the wind. His next flurry of blows had Bradley backpedal.

"That's it, destroy my focus." He sidestepped a thrust. "You're holding your rapier too tightly."

The young man yelped as the flat of Bradley's blade smacked his hand. His rapier fell from his hand into Bradley's swift grasp.

"And now too lightly." Bradley smiled as he offered the blade back to the young man. "Besides those few things, I have to say that you've been keeping up on your training, Jaune. I enjoyed that spar."

Jaune rubbed the back of his head as he accepted the blade into his gloved hands. "Thank you, sir. I still have a long way to go before I make it to your level."

Bradley chuckled. "Indeed you do. Don't be discouraged though. Had we just had this type of battle back when we first met, I wouldn't be surprised if you killed yourself in the effort."

Jaune groaned and hung his head. "I'm still decades behind you, sire. You don't have to rub it in."

Bradley threw his head back and laughed hard. "Oh, chin up, my young student. You've come a long way since that day three years ago." He glanced down at Jaune's gloved hands. "You'd probably do better if you didn't have those gloves on."

Jaune shrugged as he moved to one of the benches in the arena to where his brown overcoat lay next to his messenger bag of the same shade. "I suppose I'm just not as comfortable as my friends are with their limbs." He tipped his head down and his eyes were covered by the shadows. "Even after nearly six years here."

"You won't always have time to discard them in an ambush," Bradley said, his face set in a frown.

"I know, sir. I'll get over it. I promise." He gave the King a tight smile. "And an Arc never goes back on their word."

Bradley smirked as he passed Jaune on his way to the door. "Indeed." He paused as he came up to where his guards stood and turned back to Jaune. "Oh, one more thing."

The young man looked up at his mentor after he pulled his coat on and slung his bag over his shoulder in a way that wouldn't interfere with the sheaths on his back.

"Your young friends apparently just arrived in Central and are on their way to Colonel Mustang's office. Go say hello to them for me, will you."

Jaune saluted. "Yes, sir."

"On your way then, Bone Weaver Alchemist."

**Decent intro? Thoughts and reviews are welcome. **

**Need your opinion though. I'll either work on a current-day chapter that happens just after this prologue or I'll post a flashback chapter that explains how Jaune gets to Amestris from Remnant. Which one should I do? First come, first serve and I'll post the flashback within the next two days or focus on the modern-day chapter that has him join Ed and Al as they hunt down Isaac McDougal, aka the Freezing Alchemist.**

**Looking forward to it.**


	2. Recollections 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own either FMA:B and RWBY. Working for Rooster Teeth would be nice, though.**

**Author's Note:**

**Two votes less than twelve hours after I posted the prologue. Backstory time!**

**Also, kudos to anyone who recognizes where I nicked the sparring match nearly word for word from.**

**MM Browsing: I know there's a lot of Jaune betrayed stories out there, but I tried my best to reduce Team RWBY and NPR's impacts on Jaune's story, as they won't really make an appearance in the story. I might write a sequel if I finish this story where Jaune returns to Remnant with the knowledge of Alchemy and his swordsmanship skills having grown. **

**As for your second and third points, I won't have him spamming god-tier alchemic transmutations, as the law of Equivalent Exchange will still be a thing. Additionally, I plan to have his alchemy specialization and his semblance complement each other. The title of the story should be a hint as to what his specialization will be. The gloves tie into that and will be hinted at in this chapter.**

**With that addressed, enjoy this significantly longer chapter.**

* * *

_Coward. _

_Liar. _

_Cheater._

Those were the words that Jaune Arc had heard directed at him over the week from when Cardin had revealed his secret up until the moment he was ejected from Beacon for falsifying his transcripts. His teammates and close friends had tried to stick with him for the better chunk of the time, but Jaune knew that they would back away.

And they did.

Ren was the first, followed closely by Nora, primarily at the green-clad man's insistence and Jaune's reassurance to her that he'd be all right. Merely by associating with Jaune, it had made the rest of JNPR outcasts in the social hierarchy of Beacon.

Jaune had seen the subtle signs that it was grating at Nora. At first, it had been the stares at JNPR in the lunchroom, which had quickly escaped out into the school at large and then the whispers directed at Jaune started to question them.

Team RWBY was among those that abandoned him, minus the team leader due to their friendship.

Weiss had been quick to dismiss him as a failure due to his deception.

He had never had issues with the ever-mysterious Blake, so he didn't mind when she became even more distant towards him. He only ever caught brief glances at him laced with traces of pity and sympathy, the latter confusing him to no end.

Yang had tried to remain friends with him, up until the rumors had started to attack her little sister.

Ruby Rose.

The thought of the petite crimson leader of Team RWBY made Jaune's heart ache.

She had tried to stay with him for so long. She spoke up for him when people insulted him while he wasn't nearby. It had quickly escalated to the point that Ruby was put into detention for getting into fights with fellow freshmen.

It all changed when she picked a fight with a particularly nasty group of third years who laughed at Jaune behind his back. She had broken several of their bones, but they managed to land several hits as well, landing her in the infirmary.

That had earned him a cold shoulder from Yang Xiao Long who tried to keep her sister away from Jaune at all costs.

Jaune still had a few partially cracked ribs from when he had bumped into the group and tried to talk to Ruby, only for Yang to panic and toss him out the window when she saw the same group of Third Years approaching.

Professor Goodwitch had delivered the unpleasant notification of his expulsion the night after.

His thoughts finally came to his last friend to leave him, even if it wasn't by choice.

Pyrrha Nikos. The Spartan. The Champion of Mistral's combat tournaments.

The crimson warrior had stuck by him throughout the week, continuing to stand with him even when the rumors about how he had blackmailed her into helping him became audibly noticeable.

It was only when he was walking to the Bullhead, suitcase in hand, that she confessed to him.

Stunned was an understatement when describing what Jaune had felt at that moment when Pyrrha had expressed her feelings to him, admitting to having liked him since Initiation.

His response could have been better.

"You're going to have to choose someone else." He had said, his own sorrow notable on his face.

Pyrrha had looked so distraught as he laid out for her exactly why she needed to find a better partner for the rest of her studies at Beacon. He had also elected Ren as the new leader of the NPR remnant before he had departed.

* * *

Jaune fell back onto the ragged cot he had in his tiny apartment.

After he had landed, he had quickly found himself in a load of trouble. In addition to having next to no assets besides the Lien in his pocket and a few ration bars, he had no place to stay in Vale.

He had been forced to stay in one of the city's few homeless shelters while he had gone job hunting only to be rejected. Turns out being slapped with a Beacon expulsion tended to carry a reputation.

Jaune quickly found people turning him away left and right as soon as they found out about his expulsion.

It was a miracle that he had found a man who didn't care for Jaune's past failures and was willing to hire him. The pay was also decent and the man who owned the bookstore was generous enough to help Jaune find an apartment in the area. Granted it wasn't a four-star home, seeing as how it was nothing but a small studio place, but it was something.

A chime from his Scroll drew him from his inner musings. He checked the ID and swiped the answer key. "Hey, Tucson."

"Jaune, you able to come in?" Jaune's boss asked. The Puma Faunus sounded somewhat confused and nervous. "I've got something unusual here."

Jaune shrugged. "I guess. I'm on my way."

* * *

Jaune stepped into Tucson's store and found said Faunus staring down at a book on his counter, a bead of nervous sweat running down his temple.

The Puma Faunus looked up upon hearing him enter. "Hey, Jaune."

"Tucson," Jaune replied as he stepped around the counter to join his boss in gazing at the small leather-bound notebook. "Where'd you get it?" He asked as he ran a finger along the spine.

"An old man came stumbling in about an hour before I opened up fully." Tucson crossed his arms. "He was pretty beaten up and I think he was delirious too because he was spouting off a lot of nonsense. Something about a stone and 'equivalent exchange' or something like that. Before I could ask him if he needed anything to help him, he up and vanished into the back alleys, leaving this thing behind."

Jaune shrugged. "Sounds like your usual trade deal. He might have been involved with a dust deal. You never know nowadays."

"Yeah. With the White Fang getting more and more ambitious with their Dust thefts, the black market is becoming more and more appealing." Tucson scowled. "Those damned idiots are going to get a lot of people killed."

Jaune spared his boss a glance. "Not to mention the effect that this has on the local economy. With the Vytal Festival in the next two months, a lot of the incoming participants will need that Dust to even compete." He flipped open the book and his eyes ran over the pages. He turned to Tucson, a question on his lips, to discover his boss was grinning as if he had just heard one of the greatest jokes ever.

"Doesn't look like anything suspicious, right?"

"It just looks like a bunch of cooking recipes and tips." He glanced over the page again. "All I see is a bunch of ingredients like water and salt, but what about all these other elements?" He squinted at the messy handwriting at the bottom of the page. "Oh, man. I'm not even going to try and read all of the ingredients."

"You wouldn't be wrong. There's one thing you did miss though."

Jaune's eyebrow rose. "Oh? Do explain, master investigator."

Tucson's grin eased as he took the book from Jaune. He tapped at the top of the page he had opened to. "See these dots?" At Jaune's nod, he pointed around the page. "It's an old, yet simple trick."

"It's written in code," Jaune said, his face lighting up with realization.

"Yep." Tucson picked up the book, his smile fading. "White Fang cells in Atlas use this kind of coding to dodge the military, often through similar means like this one, especially if they're working in the upper-class mansions. Posh idiots still haven't it figured it out yet."

Jaune's eyebrow rose as he looked at his boss. "And you know that how?"

Tucson stiffened and he glanced at Jaune. "Forget I just said that." He lifted the book. "I can show you how to decode this if you want."

Jaune nodded. "Sure. Not sure if I'd need it, but it'd be good to know, I guess."

Tucson nodded. "All right then, the first thing you have to do…"

* * *

Jaune stared down at the decoded notes laid out before him on his apartment bed.

"What the hell is this?" He picked up the first page and began to read the fruit of his labors. He and Tucson had spent the better part of the last few nights decoding the notes, often splitting them up between them, and Jaune had only just gotten the full set before he had left.

_-09-12-1900_

_I've finally made a breakthrough with my research. Dr. Marcoh's original theories he lent me are proving to be more and more viable. _

_I managed to transmute a group of organisms into oblivion while keeping the residual soul energy intact. The subjects in question were a group of death row inmates, nobodies who won't be missed with the help of a little cash. I'll be using the collected energy in my space-time experiments as soon as I've confirmed my theories with Marcoh. I can only pray that he is open to my idea._

Jaune set down the entry page and frowned. "Whoever owned this thing had a few screws loose." He flipped the page and continued reading.

_-09-16-1900_

_Dr. Marcoh was open to my theories, thankfully, and I managed to convince him to assist me in my endeavors. He was suspicious of my energy collection methods, but I managed to divert his attention with my space-time research. _

_-09-17-1900_

_Marcoh gave me the go-ahead. I'll be performing the experiment tomorrow night._

Jaune picked up the next page and frowned when he saw that the untranslated page had a few specks of blood around the edges.

_-09-20-1900 (est)_

_My experiment was a success, though with unforeseen consequences. I have been transported from Amestris to an unknown land. The moon is shattered here and I've been beset upon by foul creatures that seem to have no soul. They managed to clip my side, but I was rescued by a group of travelers passing by. I managed to insert myself amongst them and pose as a traveling man enjoying his retirement. (Note to self: see if there are any hair replacement products here. My bald spot is showing again.)_

Jaune flipped through the next few pages, finding nothing but the notes of the unknown author until he found an interesting entry.

_-08-10-1902 (est)_

_Today marks my one year anniversary since I arrived in Vale. I appear to have blundered, however. After my side-business of using alchemy to reinforce the walls the local huntsmen patrol on Vale's outskirts, I missed a witness who scurried off to their leader. I've noticed a few people that tail me every few hours whenever I have to go out._

_-08-12-1902 (est)_

_My new fans took me to see their boss after they nabbed me on my way to the market. _

_Ozpin. _

_He's a man who has me flashing back to the one time I had the fortune of meeting the Fuhrer. Both he and Ozpin have the same aura of power. _

_The knowledge he revealed to me was just as disturbing._

_Ignoring the fact that the story of the Maidens is true, there is another disturbing fact. _

_The Grimm have a Queen._

Jaune froze at that line.

The Grimm had a queen? As in, a controlling force that guided them? What then was her aim in fighting humanity?

Jaune pushed the questions to the back of his mind and continued.

_Ozpin's little brotherhood are trying to introduce me to the idea of fighting Salem and her own little cult._

_No thanks, I said. _

_They acted all respectful, but I can still see the tail they put on me. The tail's an interesting one to say the least, as I've witnessed his ability to transform into a Crow._

Jaune's head started to pound and he briefly considered simply tossing the papers and going back to a life of ignorance.

_-08-19-1902 (est)_

_I've managed to dodge Ozpin's latest tail. The man was a blundering oaf who reminds me a little too much of the Armstrong brat that Marcoh pointed out to me at the last recertification tests. For the moment, I'm on the run. Ironic that the place I thought to be a place free from anyone like Bradley would be made be even worse through the tech and people with their semblances. _

_-08-20-1902 (est)_

_Thankfully, I haven't lost all my friends in this town. Junior remembers my help in repairing his bar after it was destroyed by the blonde girl mere days before. I wonder if that was the reason for my usual tail's disappearance. No matter. _

_Junior has been gracious enough to grant me asylum for the next few months. I hope to have figured something out before my time here is up._

_-09-31-1902 (est)_

_Ozpin's network isn't as secure as he would likely want._

_Junior informed me that his tech crew has been finding their attempts to break into Beacon's data stores to be more and more successful. Several files have been accessed and I've taken the liberty of spiriting away anything relating to the Maidens and the Relics before Junior can see it. I'm keeping them on a Scroll close to my project in Junior's bar._

_The Vytal Festival is around the corner and I'm beginning to wonder if I should just bail on the city before more huntsmen come alongside the Atlesian Military. It's more than likely that Ozpin will bring Ironwood into the fold if he hasn't already._

Jaune flipped to the last page and found something strange. The date inscribed within was the day before Tucson had acquired the book.

_-10-12-1902 (est)_

_The Circle is very nearly charged. I'm almost sad to be leaving Remnant behind. _

_All that's left is to retrieve the dust from Roman's crew and then I'll be on my way. They'll get their Lien and I'll get my dust. Equivalent Exchange at its crudest and purest form._

Jaune placed the paper down and examined the small notebook. He opened to the last page to find an address smeared in a thin red liquid. He lifted it to his nose and smelled the coppery tang of blood.

"Looks like I'm not coming in to work tomorrow, Tucson."

* * *

Jaune stepped through the doorway into a nearly barren dance room that had only uniformed guardsmen milling about. He was grateful that the two at the door hadn't asked any questions about Crocea Mors and his armor. He wasn't looking for trouble tonight, but one could never be too sure.

Jaune stepped up to the bar and waited until the barman, the owner by the looks of the suit and commanding presence about him, noticed him.

"Yeah, what'll it be, kid?" The man asked, his eyes not even on Jaune as he wiped out a glass and placed it below the bar.

"I'm looking for an old man."

"You'll have to be more specific. We get a lot of perverted old men who sit in the shadows," Junior said with a dismissive wave.

"He's an Alchemist."

Junior froze with one hand holding a glass that he slowly set down. "Care to repeat that?"

"I said that he's an alchemist. That's what his notebook calls him anyways." Jaune held up said notebook.

Junior stared at the book for a moment before he stepped up to stand across from Jaune. "What's your name, kid?"

"Jaune. Jaune Arc."

Junior's eyebrow rose. "The Beacon dropout."

Jaune closed his eyes and sighed. "Yes."

The bartender raised his hands. "Hey, I don't judge, man. We Beacon failures have to stick together."

Jaune's face changed to one of surprise. "You were a Huntsman-in-training?"

"I was until some brat whined to his councilor father and had me expelled. It was the scandal that led to Ozpin being placed as Headmaster." Junior waved at Jaune, indicating that he should follow.

The two of them entered a stairwell that went down until the beat of the dance floor faded to a dull rumble in the roof.

"Jim Sherman just showed up here last year and started doing odd jobs to help out everyone in the area." Junior explained as they walked between crates.

Jaune peeked into one and jerked back when he saw the rifles within.

"Kindly refrain from sneaking peeks at my merchandise, I do have a business to run on the side."

"You ever deal in Dust?" Jaune asked.

Junior snorted. "Hell no. Not ever since the White Fang rolled into town. I've just been trying to keep my head down and let them do their thing. I haven't done anything to them and so long as they do the same, we won't have any problems."

"Seems sane enough." Jaune looked over Junior's shoulder. "Where are we going?"

"I figure that if you were able to pick apart Sherman's notes, you might have an idea what it was he was working on."

"I only decoded his journal. It's not like I understand half of what he was talking about." Jaune shrugged as they came to a doorway.

"Yeah, well, you'd probably understand it better than I would," Junior said as they entered another storeroom, only this one had a large clearing with a massive circle carved into the ground. Layed out on top was a bin filled with a black powder of some kind. "Sherman started working on this a few weeks ago. Five days ago, he left, stating that he needed a specific type of Lightning Dust in order to activate it."

Jaune looked over the circle and pulled out Sherman's notebook. He opened it to a page with a similar circle and compared them. "It actually looks complete right now." He stepped forward into the circle, taking care to avoid disturbing the markings, and turned back to Junior. "I don't suppose you have any spare lightning Dust on you, do you?"

Junior looked at Jaune with an incredulous expression. "You're not thinking of activating this, are you?"

Jaune shrugged. "Nothing ventured, nothing gained."

Junior shook his head. "I'm telling you, kid. I've seen what Sherman could do with his alchemy. You don't want to get into something even he hesitated to do without preparation."

Jaune laughed as he walked out of the circle to Junior. "Come on, what's the worst that could happen?"

Junior scowled as he drew out a small cartridge of Lightning Dust and tossed it to Jaune. "It's your funeral, you idiot." He turned and walked out. "Have fun in the afterlife."

Jaune looked around the room. "Well, let's see what you do." He knelt just outside the circle and cracked the Dust Cartridge in his hand. Lightning crackled around his hand as he slapped it down onto the circle.

Lightning crackled around the carving as Jaune watched. The very symbol itself began to glow blue and the container of powder disappeared in a flash of light that had him close his eyes. He reopened them a moment later and they widened.

In the center of the transmutation circle was a gray eye that seemed to pierce into his very soul. Multiple black limbs reached up from the outer edges of the circle and waved around, seemingly aimlessly.

Jaune watched them as they twisted around him.

_Crack_

He screamed as fire lanced up his legs. He looked down at the limbs to see the hands touch his legs. His legs disappeared in a flurry of ash and energy and he screamed even louder before he fell apart in a cloud of ash and blood.

* * *

Jaune's face could only show surprise as he found himself standing in a white void. He looked around. A flash of grey in his peripheral vision had him turn around to see a massive gateway standing behind him

"_Well, I can't say I didn't expect this but did you have to be that stupidly reckless?_" A harsh voice asked behind him.

Jaune spun around and the confusion on his face deepened. Sat before him was a formless creature that had only a face devoid of any features while the rest of its humanoid body existed only within a dark outline. "What the hell are you?"

The being's face split from a toothy grin as it stood. "_I'm so glad you asked. I'm called by many names._" The being walked towards him. "_I am the World. I am the Universe. I'm God. I'm Truth. I'm All. I'm One. And I am also You._" The Truth pointed at him.

A deep groan split the dead air of the void as the gate behind Jaune split open. The same eye from before appeared alongside the hands before said appendages snatched him up.

"_You have dared to knock on the door. Now it is open_."

Jaune released a shout of surprise as the hands dragged him into the gateway, ignoring his attempts to resist.

"_Do not resist, child. This is what you wanted by coming here, isn't it?_" The Truth sat back down as the door closed on Jaune. "_Now I will show you the Truth._"

Jaune screamed as he fell through the black void behind the Gate. "I didn't want this!" He chanted, repeating it until he began to scream for another reason as knowledge was forced into his head.

Alchemical equations, chemical formulas, atomic elements.

All of it and more was forced into his head as he screamed in protest. A brilliant white light shone in the distance and Jaune stretched his arms out to it. "Please, let me out!" He screamed at the top of his lungs.

As soon as he sucked in a breath of air, he found himself back in front of the Gateway with the Truth lounging in front of him, its face split even further by its iconic grin. "_Did you enjoy yourself?_" The Truth asked.

Jaune pushed himself up and moved towards the Truth. "I don't know what the hell that was all about, but I don't want to ever do that again."

The Truth's smile faded and it sighed. "_A shame. I rather enjoyed the toll for that knowledge you've just gained._"

Jaune's eyebrows rose to reflect his confusion. "Toll? What toll? I didn't give you anything."

The Truth's grin returned larger than before as it indicated itself. "_Don't you see? It's this._"

Jaune's eyes widened as two of the Truth's limbs shifted to match his own. He looked down at his own body and screamed as the two disappeared as well.

"_I was thinking one for the gate and one for the transportation that old Alchemist cooked up and you used without bringing forward a toll._" The Truth pushed itself right up into Jaune's face. "_For something to be gained, something of equal value must first be given. That's the law of equivalent exchange. Memorize it well, young Alchemist._" It reached up and flicked Jaune away from his gate.

* * *

Everything turned blinding white for Jaune before he found his back against the grassy ground. The last thing he heard before he passed out was a young girl's scream.

**And that's how our reckless untrained blond acquired his knowledge of alchemy and lost a little bit of himself.**

**Thoughts, comments, and critiques are welcome here. I'm currently writing the first "modern-day" chapter, so expect that one by the end of the weekend. Cheers!**


	3. Fullmetal - Bone Weaver

**Author's Note:**

**Well, I have to say that I didn't expect people to like this story so much in such a short time. I've seen a few people speculating about Jaune's missing limbs as a result of his journey through the Gate of Truth. You'll catch a glimpse of it this chapter, but I'll probably have more details on them in a future chapter, maybe in another recollections chapter.**

**MM Browsing: You're shoving ideas into my head with your reviews, friend. I don't dislike it, but I hate having to tell you that by the time I read them, I've already gotten well into the episode I plan to cover. I only really mentioned Marcoh in the previous chapter as a brief cameo. This would be before the good doctor knew the cost of creating a Philosopher's Stone. I'll cover it when I have Jaune accompany the Elrics back to Resembool.**

**As to your other questions, the sequel is planned to be just a few weeks after Jaune left Remnant, but he returns older, with a girlfriend, and well trained in combat. He'll also have a few extra surprises that I'm still debating on adding.**

**You'll also see the limitations I put in place on him a few times in this chapter.**

**I saw a comment on the Prologue that mentioned Jaune saving Hughes. Unfortunately, I don't plan to have Hughes survive in this story.**

**(Dodges the trashcans and throwing knives.)**

**Please note that I said "this" story. He'll probably play into the sequel if I ever get around to writing it. I was thinking something along the lines of an Attack on Titan/FMA: B crossover I read recently. Jaune wouldn't return to Remnant for free, of course.**

**Omega (Guest): I don't plan on including anything else from Remnant at this time. There won't be any Remnant visions or the like in this story, though I might include something of a vision towards the end with the final battle against the Homunculi. I might do a recap in the first chapter of the theoretical sequel.**

**With those things said, enjoy this first proper chapter of Bone Weaver Alchemist.**

* * *

Jaune walked out of the training arena and turned to walk down the hallway. Before he could go more than five steps, the sound of rubber against the polished wooden floors made him stop. As he did, a blur swung around the corner and slammed into him. They both collapsed to the ground with Jaune below the other.

"My apologies," he began. His eyes swept over the shorter figure, taking note of a small mole under her eye.

His unintentional target growled as she pushed herself up and brushed her short black hair out of her eyes. "Watch where you're going," the woman snapped.

Jaune's eyebrow rose as he got up as well. "Me? You were the one rushing around the corner."

The woman's eyebrow twitched and she grit her teeth at him. She opened her mouth to continue, but she stopped. "You know what? I don't have time for this. I have to report to my CO in five minutes and I don't want to deal with his insanity."

"Overbearing boss?" Jaune asked.

The woman sighed and ran her hand over her face. "You have no idea. He's always going crazy at the weirdest times." Jaune gave a sympathetic laugh as he recalled Ed's reactions to any synonym of the word 'small.' "Well, that's what being Human's all about, isn't it?"

"I guess." The woman shrugged and turned away. "Have a good one."

"Thanks, you too," Jaune called before she disappeared around the corner. "She seems nice." He turned around and walked off in his own direction. He froze a moment later and cuffed himself over the head. "Damn it. Should have gotten her name." He shrugged. "Ah, well. Another missed opportunity." He continued his walk. "I wonder what the Elric brothers have been up to in the past few weeks since I last saw them?"

* * *

A pair of boys passed through the streets of Western Central as they made their way further into the city, their respective appearances differing greatly from each other. One was an individual on the shorter side of the height spectrum, had blond hair held back in a ponytail with the exception of a single cowlick, and was clothed in black clothes under a red coat with the black coat of arms of Nicholas Flamel stitched on the back.

The other was a massive individual clad in blue armor adorned with spikes while the helmet had a ferocious expression on the faceplate. Unbeknownst to everyone around them, the armor itself was hollow, with a blood seal painted on the armor's inside. Glowing red eyes were the only sign of any life that the armor had.

"Edward, Alphonse!"

The two of them turned to see Jaune wave at them from across the street.

Jaune quickly made his way across the busy street and paused only once to let a car pass, giving the driver a sheepish smile and a wave when they blasted their horn at him. He hopped up onto the sidewalk and grinned wildly. "It's so good to see you both again," he said, offering his fists to them.

Edward smiled and Alphonse laughed as they tapped their own fists to his, their metal limbs releasing solid noises as they connected.

"Good to see you too, Jaune," Edward said. "It's been a while since we last saw a familiar face."

"I'll bet, seeing as how you've both been out of town for close to two months now. Which reminds me." Jaune glared at the two of them as nervous beads of sweat ran down Edward's face and Alphonse started to stutter. "You guys ducked out on me as soon as you could. I thought we were friends." His gaze softened and he ran a hand through his hair with a sigh. "You two aren't exactly making it easy for me to keep my promise to Winry."

The two alchemists flinched at his words and looked down.

"Well, you were pretty busy at the hospital when we left," Alphonse said in a tone that made Jaune think that he had kicked a puppy. "We figured we'd be able to make a short trip and be back before you noticed."

Jaune sighed. "Let me guess, Ed got caught up in his research again, didn't he?"

The nervous sweat had returned to the golden-eyed alchemist's face as he avoided meeting Jaune's gaze. "It was just one library. Then there was that guy in charge of the mine exploiting his workers."

"So you did right and then got caught up in your research." Jaune looked up at Alphonse. "The usual then?"

The armor-bound boy shifted uncomfortably before he nodded. "Yes, brother passed out three times on this trip."

"So the little pipsqueak kept you up at night then, did he?" Jaune's grin returned, full force as he leaned towards Edward.

Edward's face twisted into a mask of indignation. "Who you calling a little pipsqueak?! Can a little pipsqueak do this?" The Fullmetal Alchemist jumped at Jaune only for his fellow blonde to perform a spin with Ed's momentum and lock his arm around his neck.

"Only you can, my Fullmetal pipsqueak of a friend!" Jaune yelled as he dug his knuckles into Edward's scalp in a noogie.

"Don't call me little!"

The surrounding bystanders could only watch in amused confusion before Jaune released Edward, who glared at him with a growl as he straightened his hair. "Ooh, scary." Jaune held up his hands in mock fear before he put them down and his grin faded. "So, did you find anything?"

Ed's own irritation at Jaune faded and he turned his glare to the side.

"No, we still haven't found anything that could get us our bodies back," Alphonse said.

Jaune's face gained a frown as he gazed at them with a trace of pity. "I'm sorry to hear that." He turned around. "Mustang caught me on my way out of Central and asked me to pass along a message."

Edward twitched. "Oh, yeah? So the Colonel Bastard is in Central, is he? What did he want?"

Jaune's gaze turned skyward. "Oh, yeah. It was actually two messages. The first was that you still owe him money."

Edward's eyebrow began to jump at that sentence. "It was only fifty-five cens." He shook it off as they walked. "What else?"

"There's been a string of murders as of late. Mustang wants you two to help him and a few other alchemists hunt him down."

"Why do they want us on it? We're only passing through." Alphonse said, his helmet cocked to convey his confusion.

Jaune rubbed the back of his head. "That's partially my fault. I mentioned to Mustang on my way out that I was going to meet you and he told me to pass on the information."

"So you messed up, did you?" Ed had a shit-eating grin on his face as they stopped at the primary checkpoint into Central.

Jaune waved his words off with an embarrassed expression. "Yes, I know." He flashed his sword permit at the guard and was allowed in while Ed flashed his pocket watch. "The other reason is that this fugitive is a former state alchemist who left the military after the Ishvalan War."

"So he's a combat veteran." Ed scratched his chin as he thought.

"Yes. Mustang has more details that he'll brief you on." Jaune shook his head when he saw that Ed had a displeased frown on his face. "Don't give me that. I only know the bare minimum myself. Bradley put Mustang on this assignment and the Colonel gave me the minimum details before I left." He headed down a different hallway.

"Um, Jaune?" Alphonse's voice made Jaune pause and look back. The armor bound soul pointed down the opposite hallway. "Colonel Mustang's office is that way, isn't it?"

Jaune grinned. "Yeah, but the cafeteria is this way. I'll grab some snacks and meet you there." He ran off after that statement.

Ed hissed. "Damned lazy friend of ours."

* * *

Night quickly fell on Central and the regular hum of the city was broken by yells from Military Police units and the shots from their sidearms as a shadowed figure darted through the alleyways.

Jaune flew across the rooftops in pursuit as he heard several hisses of steam erupt from below. He jumped down to find a group of MPs frozen in different states of agony or on the ground with their skin a bright red from their blood boiling them alive. "This is just messed up." He heard more screams ahead and resumed his pursuit. He turned a corner to find Ed facing off against their prey while Alphonse hid on the rooftop above.

Isaac McDougal, formerly known as the Freezing Alchemist.

Jaune's face split in a savage grin as he approached McDougal. "Isaac McDougal. It's been a few years since I last saw you."

The Freezer turned around and raised an eyebrow. "Do I know you? I'm pretty sure I'd remember a blond kid armed with a pair of swords."

Jaune shrugged. "You probably wouldn't remember me too much. I was more of an observer than a participant. I was nowhere near as combat-ready as I am now either."

McDougal's eyebrows rose. "Now this is an interesting evening. You were in Ishval?"

"Like I said, I was more of an observer who ducked around the combat lines. I had a different goal than the dogs of the military back then," Jaune admitted.

McDougal's eyes widened. "Wait a minute, you mean you were that brat that-"

"Enough chit-chat! Alphonse!" Edward yelled as he rushed forward.

Isaac raised his gauntlet-clad arm to use his alchemy, but Alphonse dropped down from above and made him duck before he was forced to block Ed's follow-up strike with his mace. Isaac kicked Alphonse away and knocked the mace away. Before Ed could follow up, Isaac blocked it and used his alchemy on Ed's right arm.

Edward only gave a shout of surprise as he fell backward.

Alphonse tried to take advantage of Isaac's surprise at his failure with a downward hammer strike with both fists, only for the Freezer to take advantage of his momentum and toss him at Ed.

"How?! I had you! Any water in that limb should have boiled!"

Edward scowled. "If it's any consolation, you did ruin my coat." He tore off the remnants of his red coat to reveal his automail.

McDougal stiffened at the sight. "An automail arm." His eyes widened as he put the clues together. "A gifted young alchemist who doesn't use transmutation circles and has an automail right arm." His gaze hardened. "I know who you are. You're the Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric." He paused before he looked at Alphonse with a confused expression. "Wait, so it isn't you?"

Alphonse scratched his head. "No, I'm his younger brother Alphonse."

"But he's a runt," Isaac said, his shoulders slumped as he realized that his well-known opponent was nothing more than a boy.

"Now you've done it," Jaune commented from the side as a vein popped on Ed's forehead.

"Oh, yeah? Can a runt do this?" Ed clapped his hands together and slammed them against the ground.

Isaac didn't have any time to react before he was encased in a concrete body bind. "I've heard the stories, but I didn't think of this. The Fullmetal Alchemist is just a little kid."

"Strike two, buddy," Jaune commented again as Ed let his anger get a hold of him again.

"Don't call me little!"

Isaac didn't even see the concrete hand fly at him until he himself was flying from the bind. He slammed into the wall next to Jaune. He struggled to get to his feet but was quickly smashed back into the ground. A murky yellow foam splashed onto him and before he could think to use the water in it to escape, it hardened around him. He glared up at the origin of the stream to see Jaune pull back his hands, which had two hoses retract back up his wrists. As he returned them, Isaac caught a glimpse of the metal hidden beneath the sleeves. "A pair of automail arms. It's a regular freak show tonight." Ignoring Jaune's glare, he glanced down at the material binding him. His eyebrow rose. "Bone?" He looked back up at Jaune. "I guess that makes you the Bone Weaver Alchemist, Jaune Arc-Rockbell."

"Gee, I wonder what gave it away," Jaune said as he pulled Isaac's gauntlet free from his arm. "I'll take this. You won't be doing any alchemy without this, no sir." He walked back over to Ed and Al, the former of whom was still steaming over the supposed insult against his height. "Just give it a rest, Ed. I wrapped him up nice and tight for the MPs."

This made Ed brighten. "Great, so you don't need us anymore?"

"Don't get your hopes up." Jaune could almost hear said hopes come crashing back down in Ed's head. "We still have to hang around for the MPs and then we have to report to Mustang."

"But we have a train to catch to Liore," Alphonse said.

Jaune ran his hands through his hair. "Listen, if it were up to me, I'd tell you boys to hit the road. But the MPs will be on my ass if I let you go like this." He smiled. "Plus, it's been a while since I last saw you two. We should at least grab a meal before you guys go."

"Yeah, I guess," Edward said. He grunted when Jaune ruffled his hair and tapped Al's shoulder.

"Chin up, you two. We'll have you along shortly." He glanced down the alley and smiled as an MP unit rushed in. "Ah, right on time, gentlemen. We have him wrapped up, nice and tight for you."

"Excellent," one of the larger MPs said with a warm smile. Said smile disappeared when he saw what exactly Isaac's state was. "Uh, what is it that he's encased in?"

"A mixture of collagen, calcium, carbon, and water, fused together with alchemy to make a rather effective Bone stand-in."

"Cool," the MP said. "Unfortunately, I'm going to have to ask you to release him as we can't get him out like this through these narrow alleyways."

Jaune slumped. "Fine. Just another ruined piece of organic art, I guess." He slipped past the other MPs, all of whom had their sidearms trained on Isaac, and clapped his hands before he slapped the bone, which dissolved into its inert form. He grabbed Isaac by the shirt and yanked him up so that the MPs could cuff him. "All good here, then. Let's get going, you two." He walked past the MPs to join Alphonse as Ed did the same after having repaired his coat. A rattle on his belt made Jaune look down to see Isaac's gauntlet hanging there. "Oh, yeah, better give this to the MPs for evidence. You never know what-" He stopped mid-sentence when he caught a glimpse of the transmutation circle on the palm. "This circle is incomplete. It wouldn't be able to perform alchemy."

"Wait, you mean he was doing circle-less transmutations?" Ed asked.

Jaune examined the gauntlet. "No, it's more likely that-" He froze again, this time with his eyes wide. He spun back to the group of MPs in time to see one of Isaac's gloves fall to the ground. "He's got a circle on his hand." He pushed off the ground in a run towards the group, but Isaac fell to the side… directly into a large puddle. Jaune swore as a large cloud of steam filled the alleyway. When it cleared, all he saw was a shattered pair of handcuffs and a group of dead or wounded MPs. "Damn it. He got away."

"So much for that dinner before we head out," Ed muttered.

"Mustang's not going to be happy."

Edward could only give out an unhappy groan.

* * *

"It's rare for you to underestimate an opponent, Bone Weaver. I expect it from Fullmetal, but this is unexpected," Roy Mustang commented as he sat at his desk with a grin on his face.

"Bite me, Mustang. I thought Ed's attack concussed him. Not to mention that I didn't expect him to hide his true alchemic circle," Jaune said as he tossed down Isaac's phony gauntlet onto the table in front of him and Ed as they sat across from Alphonse.

"You'd have known about it if you weren't fifteen minutes late to the briefing." Mustang rubbed his eyes while keeping his amused grin on his face. "At least you had the audacity to bring pastries for everyone."

"Hunger can be just as big of an enemy as the people holding a gun against you," Jaune muttered under his breath as he drew a bagel out from his bag and took a bite. He froze when Mustang's lieutenant, Hawkeye, glared at him from her place at the Colonel's side. He put the bagel away.

Mustang snorted at the interaction.

"So who is this guy anyway?" Edward asked.

"You'd know if you paid any attention in the briefing, but no, you had to go charging right in."

"And then you had to have me follow you two on the way back out. Why do you think I'm trying to eat at this point?" Jaune asked before he tried to sneak a chunk of bread out from his bag only for Hawkeye's hand to drift to her sidearm.

"No crumbs in the temporary offices," she said.

Jaune shuddered and withdrew his hand.

Ed sighed and put his hands up. "All right, I get it already. Jaune's punishment is enough, I don't need your input on this, Mustang."

The Flame Alchemist chuckled under his breath. "Next time a superior tells you to pay attention, you might try it," Ed grunted at Mustang's words. "In any case, his name is Isaac McDougal, formerly known as the Freezer back in the day."

"Jaune mentioned he's a combat veteran," Alphonse said.

Mustang nodded his thanks to Jaune as he walked to the window. "Yes. He was a State Alchemist who participated in the Ishvalan Civil War. Shortly after the end of it, he resigned his commission and went into hiding. Intel has placed him with members of the Anti-Establishment party multiple times since then." He looked back at the group. "Capturing him is top priority. Whether it's dead or alive is up to him," he said.

"No way," Ed muttered. "I won't kill anyone for you."

"That's your choice. Your orders are simply to assist us in containing him, that's all." A grin filled with mischief spread across Mustang's face. "Off-topic, have you two turned up any leads for getting your bodies back to normal?" He asked.

Jaune chuckled as Ed scowled. "The two of them spent the last two months over towards Youswell and apparently busted up a corrupt officer over there."

"I guess I'm going to see that report soon then, Fullmetal?" Mustang asked, his grin still on his face.

Before Ed could respond, the door flew open to admit a new face. "Roy! How goes? Heard they put you on the job of catching the Freezer. One hell of a nasty assignment, but it could be the one that gets you that promotion to Central."

Jaune could only watch in amusement as Mustang's face fell into an expression of irritation.

"Oho! Looks like my timing was perfect!" The newcomer said with a high level of energy. "You two are the Elric brothers and you're Jaune Arc-Rockbell!" He zipped over to Alphonse and began to vigorously shake his hand. "Wow, it's a real honor to meet the youngest state alchemist ever. You're a real legend around here. I'm Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes, it's a real pleasure."

Alphonse managed to stop the excessive handshaking. "Uh, you want my brother Edward, I'm his younger brother, Alphonse."

"What?" Hughes asked as he turned his gaze to Ed. "You're the Fullmetal Alchemist? Sorry, I had no idea you'd be-"

"Hughes." Mustang's call cut his friend off before he could irritate Edward any further. "What are you doing here? Go home for the evening."

"No can do, see I'm actually here on official business." Hughes turned back to the Elrics and Jaune. "Elrics and Mr. Arc. I understand that you don't have a place to stay in Central, so you'll have to come with me." He reached into his jacket and whipped out a photo with pride. He beamed as he displayed the picture. "My wife Gracia and my daughter Alicia. We'd love to have you."

* * *

Jaune could only smile at Maes's love and affection for his family as he greeted his tiny daughter when she and Maes's wife opened the door to their apartment.

"Look, we have guests!" Maes said to his daughter as he turned back to the Elrics and Jaune. "These are the Elric brothers and Jaune Arc-Rockbell."

Alicia pointed at Alphonse. "Bigger brother," she pointed at Jaune, "big brother," she pointed Edward last, "Littlest brother."

Edward twitched as he gave a strained smile and pointed to himself. "Nice to meet you. My name is Edward Elric." He jerked a trembling thumb at Alphonse. "This is my younger brother, Alphonse. Get that? Younger."

"But younger means little. You're little," Alicia reasoned with the logic that only children could achieve.

Her words threw Ed into a fury which made Alphonse have to pick him up and carry him into the apartment while Jaune followed the two, laughing all the way.

"I hope you're hungry, Gracia's cooking is delicious!" Maes called as he sat Alicia in a high chair.

Jaune laughed as he watched Ed's mouth water at the array of dishes set out in front of them, piled to the brim with food, chief among them a large quiche.

"All right then, eat up!"

"Thank you for the meal!" Ed and Jaune chorused before they dove into the food.

"Wow, you weren't kidding, this is great!" Ed got out past a mouthful of quiche.

Maes grinned as Jaune nudged Ed after he swallowed. "Don't talk with your mouth full, it's rude."

"It's quite all right. Eat as much as you'd like," Gracia said to them.

Maes eyebrow rose as he looked at Alphonse and he grinned. "Alphonse, how are you going to eat with that armor on? Take it off and relax."

The Hughes family's guests all froze at the question.

"It's partially part of his alchemy training and partially because most of his teeth were knocked out by a pretty bad man last year," Jaune babbled through a mouthful of quiche.

That line of conversation quickly died as Alicia started babbling about trains, making them all laugh and return to their meals.

* * *

"So, you work at the hospital, don't you Jaune?" Maes asked as he filled a cup of coffee.

Jaune lifted his head from where it had been resting in his palm to look in Maes direction. "Yeah, they bring me on as a consultant whenever I'm in town and they need someone skilled with bone alchemy. I split my time between Eastern Command and here, mostly because of my apprenticeship to my swordsman instructor. How'd you know?"

"I've seen you every once in a while near Central's main hospital. What is it exactly that you do?"

Jaune reclined in his armchair as Maes returned to his spot on the sofa. "They call me in whenever there's a bone-related emergency or problem in general. Anything from reassembling limbs crushed to powder in construction accidents to opening ribcages in Autopsy to reinforcing bones weakened by Calcium deficiency." He turned to where Edward and Alphonse were play-chasing Alicia around. "Which I end up having to do every once in a while because someone refuses to drink his milk!" He called over to Ed, who froze and shook his fist in Jaune's direction.

"You can't make me drink that disgusting cow juice! Never!" Any further insults from Ed were cut off by Alicia's laughter.

Maes laughed at the situation before he turned back to Jaune. "So I take it you're not really a combat alchemist then?"

Jaune shook his head. "Not primarily. I prefer to serve the people through medicine, primarily because of two very wonderful automail surgeons in Resembool who saved my life."

"They must be amazing. Did they work on your and Ed's automail limbs?" Maes asked, only to regret it as Jaune's face fell and his shoulders slumped. "They aren't around anymore, I take it?"

Jaune nodded, his shoulders shaken by a sigh as he looked down at his gloveless metal hands. "They died serving as doctors in Ishval."

"That must have been hard to hear."

"It was even harder on their daughter when I was the one who found them and had to tell her," Jaune said as he told a sip of his own coffee. "Nevertheless, it is because of them that I will help people, even if it requires that I use lethal force to protect the innocent. Would you not do the same?"

Maes could only offer a quiet 'yeah' before they both fell into silence watching the Elrics playing with Alicia, whose laughter only slightly eased the pain of the past.

Jaune downed the last of his coffee and stood, picking up his coat as he did. "Thank you for having me for the evening, Maes." He looked over to where Gracia was walking into the living room with her own cup of coffee. "Mrs. Hughes, the food was wonderful, I enjoyed every bite."

"You aren't staying the night? We have plenty of room," Gracia said.

Jaune shook his head with a smile. "I'm afraid not. The hospital has me on schedule tomorrow to help out with a few of the cases relating to the Freezer. I wouldn't want to disturb anyone getting up early. Besides, I have my own apartment closer to the hospital in case they need me to get there as soon as possible."

"Well, in that case, I suppose the only thing we can do is insist that you come to visit us every once in a while, okay?" Maes asked with a smile as he now stood next to Gracia and put an arm around his wife.

Jaune grinned and shook the elder Hughes's hands. "I suppose so." He glanced to where the Elrics stood. "I probably won't be helping you guys with the Freezer case tomorrow, but I'll try and see you guys once more before you head off for Liore." He opened the door and waved back at them. "I'll see you all soon, promise."

* * *

Jaune stared down at the body on the Autopsy room table.

The current coroner, Dr. Knox, noted something on a clipboard before returning it to its place next to the body.

"Another one of the Freezer's victims?" Jaune asked.

Knox nodded. "He was one of the guards assigned to Solf Kimblee's cell at the prison. McDougal broke in earlier this morning and fried this guy before he could defend himself." He turned around to the other table where a pile of shattered meat lay thawing under a heat lamp. "That one is what's left of the other guard. I just got the bodies less than an hour before."

"If you already know what killed them both, why am I here?"

Knox scoffed and raised his scalpel before it descended on the corpse's chest, only for the blade to bounce off the tight skin-turned-leather.

"Neat party trick," Jaune said.

"The water has been entirely evaporated from this man's skin, turning it into dense leather. Unfortunately, I left my tougher set of blades back on the other side of Central in my usual haunt."

"So you need me to use my alchemy to open them up." Jaune shrugged. "Fine by me. Just give me a minute to scrub and change."

Knox grunted but let him be as he turned back to the frozen meat chunks.

Jaune knelt next to the steam-out corpse. "Let's see what secrets you can reveal."

* * *

A few hours passed as Jaune and Knox worked on the two corpses. Every time the Doctor snapped his fingers, Jaune would clap his hands and disassemble rib bones, femurs, and anything else the man found to be in his way.

By the time Knox had wheeled the tables out into the preservation room, Jaune had run his automail through a bowl of sanitizer before the phone rang next to the door. Seeing as how Knox was in the next room still, Jaune picked it up. "Autopsy, Consultant Arc speaking… Ah, so they caught McDougal." He sighed. "I see. All right, thanks for telling me." He hung up the phone and opened the door to Preservation. "Doc, you can write these two off as some of the last few people McDougal killed. Bradley got to him."

"Good riddance. One less pain in the ass that I have to write reports on."

Jaune grunted through his grin as he headed for the exit. "Don't be so pessimistic, old-timer, you'll only get more grey hair that way." He ignored Knox's grumbles after that statement as he exited. He walked past the receptionist and walked upstairs to the emergency room levels. He looked out the window to see the sun start to peek out from the clouds. He thought back to the contents of the call and rubbed his eyes. "Of course Edward gets himself injured in all this." His grin turned savage as he entered the halls lined with patient doors.

Many of the doctors and the occasional guard all jumped to the side when they saw him approach with what some of the nurses had called 'The Bone Devil's Grin' on his face.

He came to the room marked with Edward's full name and put his ear to the door in time to hear a voice familiar to him begin a tirade about Edward "needing a perfect physical specimen to inspire him." Hearing that was enough to make Jaune stifle his laughter as he realized that Major Alex Armstrong had come to pay the Elrics a visit.

Without further delay, Jaune kicked open the door, Devil's grin back on his face, and strode in to see Armstrong flexing his overly muscled physique. He ignored Armstrong to clap his hands and construct a bone saw from the shell of his automail. "Edward, what's this I hear about you taking a blade to your shoulder? Don't you know the risk to your life because of such things?"

"It was nothing," Ed managed to stammer through his fear-induced shivering as Jaune's terrifying image loomed over him and Al, who had retreated into the corner of the room.

"Yeah, it was nothing more than a tiny frozen dagger of blood," Alphonse stammered. The armor-bound boy knew he had messed up when the blade shined and Jaune's grin deepened.

"Oh, it was a blood-based weapon? That's even more of a reason to enact extreme healing methods. Looks like you're going to need another limb taken off."

"I don't need that drastic of an action!"

"Don't be worried. I'm here to save you. Even if that means I must take your life!" Jaune yelled.

"WHAT KIND OF LOGIC IS THAT?!" Ed yelled back.

"I am confused as to what manner of insanity is going on here," Armstrong muttered, forgotten in the background.

"It's just something those two do," Alphonse said. "Jaune does this every time Edward gets hurt but he never actually does anything." He shivered. "It doesn't change the fact that he's utterly terrifying when he's like this."

**Points to whoever gets the character Jaune is referencing with his last line there. It just popped into my head to have Jaune act like her, so I thought "Why not?"**

**Reviews, thoughts, and comments are always welcome and appreciated.**


	4. Recollections 2

**Author's Note: **

**Huh, people seemed to (for the most part) like the last chapter. Now that I think about it, Nightingale could probably pass for an Amestrian Officer if she changed out her red uniform for a blue one and you ignored the combat skirt.**

**DivineWhiskey: (Love the name) Good eye. I had plans to have Jaune witness the horrors of Ishval in some way or another. He'd never be a combat-focused Alchemist and I wanted to tie his story to Scar's in some way. I figured that this would do nicely.**

**MM Browsing: Dear God, man. You are killing it with the reviews. Was I the Drifter, I'd give you a god roll Spare Rations. Good on you.**

**Jim Sherman was someone I thought of, spur of the moment. His last name Sherman comes from the Sherman Tank used in WW2, thus following the naming convention pattern amongst the Amestrian Military. (I.E. Mustang's last name from the P-51 Mustang and Hawkeye's coming from the Grumman E-2 Hawkeye, both from WW2 as well)**

**As to the things you've recommended regarding dust weaving, I am following the rule set about in the World of Remnant series: Dust loses its potency as soon as it leaves Remnant's atmosphere, so that means no Dust in Amestris. That does give me a few ideas for the sequel though.**

**My logic is that the same restrictions on Dust could also be said for Jaune's aura and semblance. He won't lose either, rest assured, but it will be severely reduced. Something of an enhanced healing factor and his semblance would be similar to his RWBY canon one where he can enhance others, but it would be more useful in healing others. **

**Regarding the Sequel: **

**Your idea regarding the Grimm coming through does give me a few ideas for the inciting incident and motivation as to why Jaune would return, so thanks for that. As for him getting one of his arms back, I'll have to refuse. By the end of this story, I want to show him having fully accepted his metal limbs. Besides, whichever limb he'd have returned would be emaciated much like how Ed's arm was after it was returned to him. He's also much happier in Amestris, so he'd only stick around long enough to stop any further Grimm invasions, via killing Salem herself. I have a few ideas on how to pull that off. All I'll say is that good and evil cannot exist without the other.**

**The title of the AOT/FMA: B story I mentioned is **_**Dedicated Hearts made Fullmetal**_** by Justsomeone19. It's a pretty good read. Go check it out.**

**Midnight49: For your first question, see the third paragraph onward in my response to MM Browsing. As for if he'll ever meet Jim Sherman, I think he'll serve a similar role to Marcoh in the sequel. Someone who's aware of a conspiracy but with little to no power to affect it. **

**Haxorus knight: Pretty sure I answered this question in the previous chapter's note. No Remnant until the sequel, if I get there. Maybe a vision when Jaune goes through the Gate of Truth again near the end of the story, who knows?**

**digreg: I'll pretend I understood that. If you're saying that Sherman's escape from Ozpin's brotherhood pissed them off, then most likely. I might bring him back in a sequel if I ever write it.**

**With those major points mentioned, enjoy.**

* * *

_February 1905_

Jaune Arc awoke slowly to the faint chatter of conversation and what sounded like oil sizzling in a pan. He groaned as he turned his head about to inspect his surroundings.

Sterile white tiles decorated the walls while small rectangular windows dotted the far wall. Opposite that wall was a staircase set into the wall that led up to where Jaune could hear the conversation.

"Got everything, Winry? All set for school?" A man asked.

"Yep, all set," A young girl said with an enthusiasm that made the man laugh.

"All right then. I'll get her to the school and make sure the Elrics are up too," an elderly woman's voice sounded fainter as she spoke. The sound of a door open and close followed her statement.

Jaune could hear the faint rumble of conversation between the elder and the girl continue outside the basement windows before it faded. He closed his eyes.

So damned tired.

"I wonder if that boy will wake up soon," a woman's voice filtered down to the basement, causing Jaune's eyes to feebly open.

Jaune opened his mouth to say something only for a dry rasp to escape it. He descended into a coughing fit that only served to wake him up even more. He barely registered the sound of footsteps rushing down the stairs until a man in a white surgeon's smock appeared at his side and rolled him over. Jaune's coughing fit died down and he sucked in a breath. He was rolled back to his previous position.

"Easy there. You've been out for a while," the man said, which drew Jaune's eyes up to him. At his inquisitive gaze, the man continued. "My name is Yuri. Yuri Rockbell. You're currently in my family's clinic in Resembool."

"Resembool?" Jaune coughed again. "That anywhere near the kingdoms?"

Yuri's confused face did little to ease Jaune's nerves. "Kingdoms? Do you mean Xing?"

Jaune's head fell back onto his pillow with a sigh. Footsteps from the staircase drew his attention to that direction to see a blond-haired, blue-eyed woman descend. Jaune choked on his spit. The woman could pass for one of his sisters!

Yuri noticed his shift and turned back to see the woman approach, her hands tying her own sterile smock on. "This is my wife, Sarah." He looked at Jaune. "Sarah, this is…" His face turned sheepish. "Sorry, in all that excitement just now, I forgot to ask your name."

"Jaune… Jaune Arc," he rasped as he fought to sit up.

Yuri and Sarah rushed to help. "Easy. You've been out for a week."

"A week?"

Sarah nodded with a smile. "You gave our daughter Winry quite a fright when she was out playing with the Elric boys. She said you dropped out of the sky directly in front of her and hit the ground pretty hard. We got you down here and operated on you within the hour."

"It was touch and go a few times, but we managed to stabilize you," Yuri said as Jaune looked down at his chest, where he could see the edges of bandages cross his torso and disappear under the sheets. Yuri cleared his throat and stood up straight. "You must have gone through something fierce because you had lost a lot of blood by the time we got you."

Jaune looked up at him in confusion. "Lost-? What do you mean? I wasn't in any combat before-" Jaune froze as his memories started to come back.

Finding Sherman's transmutation circle. The Gate. The knowledge shoved into his head.

_The Truth._

His lip started to tremble as he looked down at his covered body. "Doc, be real with me: did I lose anything?"

Yuri exchanged a glance with Sarah before his gaze returned to Jaune. "When we got you in here, everything of your arms below your shoulders was missing. We managed to stitch you back together, but when we went out to see if a pair of limbs had appeared near your location, we couldn't find anything. I'm sorry."

Jaune's breathing increased as he stared down at the sheet. "Show me," he croaked.

Yuri pulled the sheet down Jaune's body and Jaune's breathing went into overdrive as he stared at where his arms used to be. "Shit. He's hyperventilating. Sarah, get the sedatives." Yuri held Jaune down as the boy began to tremble and struggle.

"Here." Sarah rushed over with a sharp and a bottle. While her husband held Jaune down, she drew a small amount of sedative and stuck it into Jaune's neck.

Jaune struggled for a half a second before he fell back onto his pillow, his vision blurred by hot tears. He fought to stay awake as he focused on his stump, but his vision slowly went dark and he passed out.

* * *

Another three days would pass before Jaune could wake up and stay calm without the need for sedatives. Another two would pass until the Rockbells let him have solid food again.

Jaune opened his mouth to accept the offered amount of stew. He gagged as the heat stung inside his mouth until a glass of water replaced the spoon and he gulped the drink down.

"Sorry about that. I usually put a bit of milk in my stew after I'm done to make it easier for the kids to eat," the woman who had introduced herself as Pinako Rockbell said.

"It's fine. My sisters often put me through crazier culinary endeavors," Jaune said as he shifted. "My younger sister Erina kept saying that she wanted to go to Vale's main culinary school. She fed us some of the most… unique dishes most of us had ever had in our lives." He looked down at his lap. "It's likely that I won't ever see them again."

"Considering I've never heard of some of the places you told us the other day, I wouldn't be surprised," Pinako said as she gave him another spoonful, which Jaune took without complaint and chewed quietly.

"I wonder if I'll ever fit in here." He glared down at his stumps. "Especially with no arms. I'll just be a burden to your family until I either leave or die."

"You will do neither of those things," Pinako said harshly as she set the bowl and spoon aside.

Jaune looked up in time to receive Pinako's small but forceful slap to the face. "What the hell? Isn't this patient abuse?"

"Not when my patients are sounding like suicidal morons, then I feel that it is my duty as a doctor to knock some sense into them." Pinako pulled her hand behind her back and looked Jaune in the eye. "Listen to me, boy. It would go against everything my family believes in to turn our backs on you. You need our help and we are all too happy to give it." Jaune looked down at his lap at her words. "Besides," Jaune looked up at her. "Winry has become rather attached to you in the brief time you've been here." Pinako smiled fondly. "She's taken after me and her parents. She's constantly worrying about you and she's already tried to design automail for you."

Jaune raised an eyebrow. "Automail? What is that?"

Pinako froze as if she had been struck by lightning. She smacked her forehead with her palm. "Gah! Goddamn it! I knew we forgot to mention something when we formally introduced ourselves the other day. How could I forget the most important part of our livelihood?" She hopped off the stool she was on and rushed over to a closet under the staircase. "Give me a moment." She disappeared into the shadows of the storage area while Jaune could only watch on in bewilderment. A light clicked on and he could hear Pinako muttering under her breath. "Where did I put that thing? I know I put it somewhere." She let out a triumphant laugh as she exited the closet covered in dust while she hefted a metal limb. She tossed it up onto Jaune's leg and he coughed when the dust flew up onto his face. "Oh, sorry." Pinako fanned the dust off of Jaune and brought his attention back to the limb. "This is automail. My own grandfather got me into it over fifty years ago. This was one of my first pieces."

Jaune examined the limb on his leg. "You want to attach this to me?"

"Oh, heavens no. Not this one anyway." Pinako picked the limb up off of Jaune's leg and tossed it onto the chair. "Each automail limb needs to be both custom-built and maintained." She tapped Jaune's right stump and he twitched. "They're attached to the nervous system directly and they respond much like how a regular organic limb would respond." She hummed to herself as she brought her pipe out and chewed on the end. "We'd be able to replace both your limbs and get you back into acceptable shape as early as next year if you stick to the therapies we assign you."

"I would be able to function, much like any other person?" Jaune asked as he stared at the automail.

"You'd probably be about as able as a regular civilian. You'll have to build yourself back up."

Jaune nodded, his face shifting to one of determination. "I'll just have to live with that. No sense in crying about it."

Pinako smirked. "'Atta boy." She slapped his leg as she turned to the staircase. "I'll get started on the metal requisitions. As soon as my son and his wife get back from their business trip, we'll get started on building the parts." She looked back at Jaune as he now had the fire of determination in his eyes. "We'll get you back in tip-top shape in no time."

Jaune set his head back and smiled. Things were finally starting to look up for him. He paused in his revelry when his stomach growled and he frowned. "Shit. I didn't finish my stew."

* * *

_March 1905_

Jaune groaned as he came to. Several doses of sedatives and painkillers flowing through his system made his head feel as if it had been stuffed full of cotton and then had a jackhammer run loose among his grey matter. The aftereffects of the medications had him fading in and out of consciousness all night to the point that the Rockbells had come by every five

He glanced down at his stumps and grinned through his discomfort. The first parts of his automail had been implanted over the past twelve hours and he now sported two automail docks that he could see under his bandages.

Tiny footsteps heralded the arrival of the Rockbell's six-year-old daughter Winry. "Jaune!" The tiny blonde called as she rushed over to him, a bowl of oatmeal in her hands.

"Hey, kid." Jaune groaned as he tried to pull himself up.

"No, let me!" Winry said as she worked the back of the bed, turning the wheel that set the bed in a reclining state.

"Thanks," Jaune croaked. He relaxed against the bed as Winry dragged over a stool and pulled herself up onto it.

"Dum-dum. You'll tear your stitches." She berated him with a pout on her face. Jaune chuckled at her words. "Hey, don't laugh! I'm being serious!"

"I'm sorry, it's just hard to take you seriously with such an adorable expression on your face. You look exactly like-" He froze as he began to remember his family. "-my sister."

Winry may have been just six years old, but she knew the expressions of sorrow people could have. "You shouldn't be upset." Her words were quiet, but Jaune heard them. "Granny always tells me that you shouldn't cry for people who've passed away. It'll just make them sad on the other side."

Jaune grunted. "They're not dead." Winry looked at his melancholic expression with concern. "They might as well be, seeing as how I'll probably never see them again."

"Then that's even more reason not to cry!" Jaune looked at her in surprise after her outburst and Winry flushed red. "If you can find a way back to them, then you won't be sad, right?"

Jaune smiled and chuckled. "Fair enough. For now, though, I'll settle on making it through attaching my automail and then I'll see where things go."

Winry smiled and nodded. "Yep!"

"Winry, what are you doing down here?" The two of them looked up to see Yuri walk down the stairs.

"Grandma wanted me to see if Jaune was awake and bring him some food if he was."

"You shouldn't bother him too much, Winry, he's recovering," Yuri said as he shooed Winry towards the stairs.

"I'm fine, doc. Our conversation actually is helping. My head doesn't feel like it's stuffed full of cotton anymore."

"Is it?" Yuri asked, stopping near the staircase while Winry watched through the guardrail. "The sedatives must be filtering through you faster than normal."

Jaune tilted his head. "Oh, yeah. Maybe my Aura had something to do with that."

"Speaking of which…" Yuri stepped up beside Jaune. "Does this… Aura of yours have a healing factor?" At Jaune's nod, Yuri gained a thoughtful expression. "That would explain how your stitches began to heal soon after we closed your wounds. Are you feeling any pain?"

Jaune shook his head. "I'm fine right now. I think I'm just instinctively blocking it out with my Aura."

Yuri shook his head. "You are one strange customer, Mr. Arc. I can only assume that your Aura is helping you recover even quicker. I'll have to check it in a few days, but if you keep up this pace of recovery, you might be fitted with automail as soon as two months from now."

Jaune chuckled as he lay back in bed. "Here's to hoping, Doctor. Here's to hoping."

* * *

_May 1905_

Jaune grunted as he tossed another sandbag up onto the pile. Rain poured down from above and added to the massive flood just behind the makeshift levee.

"Get some more sandbags here, on the double!" Jaune yelled to the other volunteers.

"There's more coming, but I doubt it'll be enough!" One of them yelled from near the hill.

Jaune looked up at where the inhabitants of Resembool had gathered on the higher grounds. He could see Winry cling to her grandmother just a few people away from Edward and Alphonse Elric, both of whom Jaune had only formally met mere days ago. He turned back to one of the trucks and grabbed another full sandbag. He swore when he felt something tear in his shoulder, right next to the pink flesh that connected to his automail. The next thing he knew, he found the sandbag hefted out of his hands and tossed to another of the volunteers by Yuri, who guided Jaune aside.

"You're going to tear out your automail at this rate. Get to higher ground before you rip the ports out of your shoulders!" Yuri yelled over the crash of the overflowing river.

"If this thing overflows, it'll be a moot point!" A harsh crash served to reinforce Jaune's words and the two of them looked over to see the levee fall apart under the force of the water. "Case in point!"

"Everyone, get to higher ground!" Yuri called.

Jaune looked over the group, trying to think of ways to turn this situation around, but froze when he saw someone passing through the fleeing volunteers. "Hey, you there! Get back before you get swept away!"

The woman Jaune had yelled at ignored him as a fresh surge of water flew over the levee. She rocked back with the force of the surge but ignored that as well before she clapped her hands and shoved them underwater. The next thing anyone knew, several walls rose from the water and formed a more solid-looking levee.

Yuri turned to Jaune. "Jaune, isn't that like what you did with the Elric boys a few days ago?"

Jaune nodded. "Yeah… It's Alchemy." He looked down at his hands as a beefy man approached the woman and held an umbrella over her head. "Just like mine. No transmutation circle." He sighed and a cloud appeared over his head. "And just when I think that I've found my Semblance with my circle-less alchemy. Life is cruel."

Yuri could only offer an awkward pat on the back.

"All right, that should hold for a while." Everyone looked up at the stranger's words.

"Lady, who are you?" Someone in the crowd asked.

"Just a housewife who was passing by!" The woman said cheerfully. The image was ruined a split second later by a river of blood falling from her mouth.

"What the hell? Are you all right? Do you need a doctor?" Jaune asked as he approached.

The woman took a handkerchief from her pocket and wiped away the remains of the blood. "It's nothing. Just an old injury acting up. Thank you for asking though."

"Is it so strange to be concerned with the health of a stranger?" Jaune asked.

The woman laughed. "Fair enough." She offered her hand. "I'm Izumi Curtis. This is my husband Sig." She indicated the taller man with a jerk of her thumb.

Jaune took her hand. "Jaune Arc." His eyes glazed over as faint wisps of his white Aura bled through the skin of his shoulders and crept down the metal of his arm. The aura slid onto Izumi's skin and disappeared into her hand.

All parties nearby stared down at the joined hands before Izumi yanked her hand back and stared at him. "What the hell was that?"

Jaune's eyes kept their glazed look as he stared at Izumi. "You're missing something. Something important to life."

Izumi and Sig froze. "How do you know that?" Izumi asked.

Jaune shook his head and the glazed look in his eyes disappeared. It was quickly replaced by a look of confusion as he looked down at his hands. "How do I know that?" He asked himself before his eyes widened and he looked back at Izumi and Sig, the latter of whom looked ready to tear Jaune apart over both his actions and comments. "Gah! I'm so sorry!" He bowed to them. "I don't know why this is happening. I've just been recognizing what's wrong with people ever since I got my Automail!"

"Your Automail-?" Whatever Izumi had to ask fell to the background as the two hurricanes known as Edward and Alphonse entered the conversation as soon as they ran up.

"Hey, old lady, could you be our teacher?" Edward asked, displaying his usual lack of tact and sense.

A vein popped in Izumi's forehead as she clapped her hands and sent the Elric Brothers flying with a transmuted earth fist.

This did nothing to dissuade them as they ran back to the three, this time with Alphonse joining his brother in begging. "Pretty please, old lady?"

Another vein popped in Izumi's hand as she cracked her knuckles. "I'm a little hard of hearing, so I didn't quite catch that. Care to repeat yourselves?"

The brothers exchanged a nervous glance before they folded their hands in front of their faces and gave their best puppy dog eyes. "We'll try again!" Ed said.

"Please, please, teach us, pretty lady?" Al asked.

"No way," Izumi said, turning her nose up.

"Why not?"

"Because I don't take on students. Besides, I'm in the middle of a trip."

"But please!" Ed yelled as he and Alphonse jumped at her, holding onto her arm.

Izumi tried to shake them off, but the two held on. "You brats! Where are your parents?"

"Unfortunately, they don't have any," Jaune said. "The Rockbells have been taking care of them for a little while, but they're mostly on their own."

Izumi's anger faded at his words and she looked down at the boys clinging to her. "How am I supposed to say no to that?" She asked quietly before she put the two down. "Fine. I'll take you both on as my apprentices."

The boys both stared at her with joy as they jumped up and down. "Thank you, teacher!" Alphonse said.

Jaune placed his hands over their heads, causing them to yelp when they jumped up to meet his metal fists. They turned to him as they clutched the bumps on their heads. "Don't you two have packing to do then?"

Edward's eyes widened. "Damn it, he's right. Come on, Al!" The two brothers zipped off, with Alphonse trailing behind his brother.

Jaune laughed at their retreating back before he grew serious and turned back to Izumi and Sig. "I can tell by your skills that you won't let them down. All I ask is that you keep them from hurting themselves in the process. Edward's already starting to show the signs of being the reckless one."

Izumi gave an unladylike snort. "And I suppose you're their mother hen?"

Jaune shrugged. "Someone has to be. Why not the man who was raised in the same household as seven sisters?"

Izumi choked on her spit. "Seven? By the Truth, what was your mother made of?"

"Stronger stuff than me, I know that." Jaune stared up at the sky. He felt the rain slap against his face and closed his eyes. "Not that it matters right now."

* * *

The next day, Jaune stood across from the boys and the Curtis' in Resembool's train station. "You boys got everything you'll need?"

The Elrics nodded eagerly.

"Don't stay away too long, you hear? Winry was a crying mess when I told her you two were headed out for a while." The boys glanced down at the floor, their expressions changing to guilt until Jaune patted them on the head. "I'll keep her busy with her automail studies. You know how she gets with that."

Edward scowled. "Great. Like we need another gear nut running around. Granny was enough for me."

"Oh? Is someone getting jealous of not having Winry's attention? That's so cute," Jaune said with a smile. He laughed when Edward tried to jump up and slap him while his own face was cherry red.

"Shut up, you crazy alien!"

"Alien?" Izumi asked, her eyebrow raised.

The Elrics and Jaune froze. The taller of the three blonds turned to Izumi. "Well, that's something of a long story, you see. It all started with-" Jaune was cut off by the whistle of the train.

"Izumi, time to go," Sig said from within the carriage.

His wife sighed and nodded. "I see that it is." She turned back to Jaune. "You'll have to tell me that story later. Would you be willing to make the trip to Dublith?"

"I wouldn't be opposed to it."

"Oh, you could refine your own alchemy, too, Jaune!" Alphonse piped up.

"Your own alchemy? How many secrets do you have, blondie?" Izumi asked. The final call from the conductor made her shake her head in annoyance. "Whatever. Feel free to stop by Dublith. Ask around for the Curtis Butcher's store and you'll find us."

Jaune nodded and quickly gave the boys one last pat on the head before they entered the carriage. He waved at them as they leaned out the window and waved back. He stood on the platform until the train turned around a hill and disappeared.

"Excuse me." Jaune turned around to find one of the station's messengers standing just behind him. "Aren't you the boy staying with the Rockbells?" At Jaune's nod, the man sighed in relief. "Great. Could I give you this letter to deliver to one Yuri and Sarah Rockbell? It's apparently government business." He handed over a trifold letter sealed with the Amestrian coat of arms.

"Is it classified?" Jaune asked after looking it over.

"No. Go ahead."

Jaune broke the seal and quickly looked it over before his eyes widened. "Oh, fuck all kinds of ducks." He nodded to the messenger and ran out of the station.

**Did I ramble? I feel like I rambled a bit and threw the story all over the place. Comments, reviews, and ideas are always welcome.**


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